1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip feeding technology, and particularly to a technology which is used for effectively feeding chip-shaped electronic parts to a chip mounter.
2. Related Art Statement
In the case where chip-shaped electronic parts such as semiconductor devices, resistors, capacitors, or the like are mounted onto a circut board etc., it is considered that chips are lined and held on a tape at predetermined intervals; the tape is fed intermittently to a chip takeout portion from a tape supplying portion such as a tape reel; and then a chip is taken out of the tape to a chip mounter at the chip takeout portion to mount it on a board by the chip mounter.
In such a chip feeding technology, a protective tape is peeled off from the holding tape, and thereafter a chip is taken out of the holding tape at a chip takeout position. However, in the process of moving from the peeling position to the takeout position, there is a fear of a chip jumping out of the chip holding hole in the tape due to an external force such as vibration.
For that reason, U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,113 discloses to arrange a shutter member covering the chip holding portion after the protective tape is peeled off so that a chip is prevented from jumping out of the chip holding hole. However, such a structure has a disadvantage in that a moving mechanism for the shutter member necessitates a complicated and large-sized structure, an increased number of parts, and high speed movement that easily invites damage and unstable operation of the moving mechanism.